Tales from John's Apartment
by IntuitiveMastermind
Summary: A series of one-shots and drabbles revolving around John, Valerie, and his apartment. Written due to the lack of this beautiful pairing. Please Read, Review, and send prompts!
1. John Tries to Cook

**A/N: **Hello my faithful readers! Here's my first Stannex story. I hope you guys enjoy this. There's a serious lack of this beautiful pairing in the fan fiction community and I plan on remedying this. Written while watching _The Bends _and _Sleepy Hollow_. Enjoy loves!

**Prompt:** "You can't cook Ramen." "I can cook Ramen." *disbelieving stare* "I can order Ramen."

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing in this. Not the characters, not the relationship, nada. Please don't hurt me.

"John."

"Valerie." Val glared. John was trying to cook. Again. As endearing as it was to see him stand over an oven and try to nourish her while she was ill, Valerie couldn't help but shudder. His last attempt had been less than successful. Let's just say, water could burn. And as attractive as he was in those shorts and t-shirt, Ramen Noodles was not going to help her get better faster.

"John," she stated a bit more firmly. He hummed in response and looked up innocently. "You don't have to cook for me. Really, I'm well enough to make breakfast for us," she informed him and pried away the spoon he was holding. Honestly, Ramen for breakfast. She deftly slipped in between him and the stove.

John stared for a moment at the back of his girlfriend's head, then spread his palms over her waist. "I want to," he cooed and kissed the back of her neck. "I want to help you-"He was cut short by Valerie's body shaking with a coughing fit and bending forward slightly to try and still herself. "Val," John purred, trying his best not to be affected by her soft bottom rubbing against his groin. He wrapped one arm around her waist and rubbed her back with the other. After a good five minutes she'd stopped coughing and just leaned against him. Both forgot the Ramen slowly burning away on the stove and for a few moments just stood pressed against each other, heads resting against one another. Rain pattered outside the window and sounded suddenly loud in the silent apartment except for the sizzle of burning noodles.

"I want to cook for you because I want to do something nice for you, not just to prove that I can." John swept her hair off her right shoulder and peppered kisses onto the smooth skin, paying particular attention to a scar left by her last undercover mission. "I wanted to because I love you." It was barely a whisper, but it was enough.

Val smiled and pushed back against the solid body behind her. John groaned in response but valiantly kept his hands around her middle.

"Keep that up and I'll rip those shorts," John growled. Valerie just chuckled.

"No you will not. These are my favorite." Blue with white stars, short and loose. The detective smiled. "Why don't we go back to bed?" Val inquired, looking over her shoulder at Kennex. He frowned.

"We don't have to," he replied. Val was sick. She should sleep. Even John knew that.

"Just to sleep. I want my cuddle buddy," Valerie replied. With a bright smile she dragged John to their bedroom in his apartment. As they settled into the covers John sat up like a shot.

"What is it, love?"

John looked down at her, a frown clouding his handsome featured. "Did you turn off the stove?" Val shook her head no. With a grown of disbelief and what Dorian called morose malcontent, John trudged into the kitchen to turn the burner off under what used to be noodles in a pot.

Dorian would call this a lab experiment gone wrong.

"Valerie!" John called. "Let's order takeout tonight." He smiled as he heard her burst into giggles. Making his way back to their bed, he stripped himself of his t-shirt and vowed never to try cooking Ramen Noodles again.


	2. John Takes Valerie Home

**Chap2**

**A/N: **This is set after the episode where Valerie is taken hostage, and Sandra is complemented, and Dorian flips a van, and hey soccer and bourbon go well together. This is my perspective on how it should have ended. Not established relationship, just comfort, friends and welcome arms to sleep in. Written Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas and enjoy the feels. Please read and review and send me prompts.

**Prompt:** *removing handcuffs* "Are you okay?" "Yeah, I'll be okay."

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing except my own feelings which demanded release via this fic. I don't own the characters or the story. Please don't hurt me. Just to recap, this is how it _should have ended._

John's head snapped toward the floor just in time to see Valerie's tumbler shatter against the tile and the bronze liquid flow freely.

"Val, are you…" Shaking. She was shaking and her hand was clenched in a fist against her thigh. John covered her hand with his own and rubbed soothing strokes along her arm. The familiar sound of sirens played dimly, breaking the comfortable silence they shared.

For a long time, John sat and quietly soothed his coworker. It had been a rough day. Rough didn't even begin to cover it. Valerie Stahl had been taken hostage and hurt in the name of a justice system that only stopped about ten percent of crimes. And for what? A city that didn't care.

A tear rolled down her cheek and she quickly dabbed it away. Her eyes were brimming, trying to release the struggles of the day. That's what tears were for right? A chemical release for pain? She sat, fighting chemistry and biology while John comforted her.

"He said terrible things to me," she whispered. John hummed and kept stroking her knuckles in a gentle motion with his thumb. "That I was weak and worthless, and that…" John looked at her but she wouldn't meet his gaze.

"Go on, Val."

"…he got inside my head, John. I tried not to let him, but he used people I cared about." She took a deep, shaky breath. "He used you." She finally looked at him, and Jon saw the tears flowing down her red-stained cheeks. She desperately tried to wipe them away, but they just kept coming.

"Do you want to tell me?" Valerie shook her head. _Later_. But John knew she meant, _I'm not ready_.

"Do you want to go home?" The game was over. There was no reason for either to stay at the precinct. She nodded. "Why don't you come to my place? I can order some hot food and you can sleep, if you want to that is." John knew offering up his apartment would look suspicious, forward, and might start rumors; but no way in hell was he letting Valerie go home alone. She'd been alone enough today.

She sniffed back a final tear. "Okay."

The drive to John's apartment was quiet. Valerie sat wrapped up in John's coat in the passenger side while John drove carefully. He had precious cargo to keep safe, after all. Once in his apartment, he steered Valerie toward his room where he presented her with pajama pants that were too long and the smallest t-shirt he owned. She smiled and whispered thank you. Grabbing his own pajamas, John left Valerie to her own devices while he reacquainted himself with changing in the bathroom.

Dinner was ordered shortly after. John settled on the couch waiting for his guest. The hot food promised to cheer up both their empty stomachs and gloomy moods.

Muffled sobs drew his attention away from his food. "Valerie?" He knocked on the bedroom door and gently opened it. Valerie sat on the edge of his bed in his oversized clothes, crying to herself with her hands clenched in her lap. It came so naturally, him kneeling in front of her and cooing gentle words. "Hey, come on honey, it's over. I'm here. You're safe." She caught his hand in bother of hers.

"I'm sorry," she sighed. "I don't think I can eat. Not now at least."

"Hey, that's just fine," he replied. "Do you need anything else?"

She looked up at him hopefully. His heart nearly cracked. "Will you stay with me? So I know I'm not by myself?" John nodded and without a word pulled back the covers so she could slide in.

"I'll be right back." She nodded and closed her eyes against his pillow. Walking out of the room he huffed into the kitchen. Leaning against the table, he twisted off his synthetic limb and hooked it up to the recalibration unit. Sighing he took up the old fashioned crutch with a sigh and hobbled back into his room. He had hoped to avoid Valerie seeing him without his leg, but no such luck. Did it really matter anyway right now?

In his room, he dimmed the lights and crawled into bed, feeling the sheets against the skin where the rest of his leg should be. Valerie, unaware of the change in his mass promptly curled up against his chest.

"Val, you're safe. I'm here for you," John whispered into her hair and cradled her body against his.

"Promise?"

John smiled. "Promise."

They fell asleep curled tightly against each other, sharing oxygen with the unspoken consensus that this night was their secret. Together, they fell asleep with the muted sound of sirens and speeding vehicles in the distance. And John forgot the absence of his leg somewhere in the night, due to the replacement of different kind of flesh settled comfortably in his arms.

**A/N: **I had so much fun writing this. I hope you all liked it. Remember to read, review, enjoy and send me prompts. By the way, what do we think of the last paragraph?


	3. Valerie Gets Hurt

**A/N: ** Here's another one! I really hope you are all enjoying these. Okay, so here we have established relationship where angst turns into bedroom times. I hope everyone is onboard with that. Umm, written while perusing a car museum in Tacoma. I used the back of a Fandango ticket and a Starbucks napkin to pen the majority of it. Please read, review, and enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Almost Human, the characters, or the plot. This is completely fictitious. I also do not own either Fandango or Starbucks. Please don't hurt me.

Valerie could feel his eyes undressing her from across the conference table.

As the captain and Paul discussed options for finishing up a pressing double homicide, Val sat with her head down and tried to ignore Kennex's heated gaze from across the table. How could he sit so casually and still manage to make her feel so exposed? There he sat, back slouched in his chair, legs splayed, and hands resting on those perfect lips and inside his leg…huh. That's why.

She tried to take notes but only ended up sitting stiffly and gripping her pen to the breaking point. _Look at me, I'm detective John Reginald Kennex and I'm going to have my wicked way with you once we are at home and through the door_. Valerie shivered at the prospect.

"Stahl, here's the case-file. Start profiling suspects as soon as you can. Kennex, Dorian, your with Paul today. _Do not_, send me a poor report."

"Yes, mom," John answered cheekily, earning an icy look and a good natured eye-roll from Maldonado. Dorian sighed and shook his head. Valerie knew it was just his way of showing affection for the grumpy human.

"Think you can send those profiles to Dorian and my MX?" Paul was asking.

"Sure thing, Richard." He nodded and departed with Dorian, leaving Valerie alone with the love of her life.

"You want to stop undressing me with your eyes?" Valerie hissed.

"Never," John smiled down at her and planted a kiss on her temple. "However, I could undress you with my hands if you like." He hooked a finger in her belt loop and gave a suggestive tug.

"Later," Val whispered. She spared him a kiss on the cheek before parting to write up those case files.

Case closed. Double homicide turned into a triple homicide. Two MX units were destroyed in a precarious shoot out. Valerie was shot. Her side was sore from the recently sealed wound. When she was finally released from the med ward, John had barely spoken to her. The ride home was tense and entering the house…unbearable.

"John," Valerie called softly. "I'm sorry about today, but it's over now." _Please don't be angry, I was just doing my job, John please._

"Valerie, stop it." That tone with those words told Valerie that today's earlier mood was gone. He leaned heavily against the counter. "If you were really sorry, you would stop putting yourself in situations where your team can't help you. Damn it, Val!" She jumped as his fist collided with an unfortunate coffee mug. "I love you, but you can't keep doing this, baby." The shot in her side wasn't nearly as painful to her as the look of anguish on John's face was. She knew he was referring to the Ethan Avery incident, but that was so long ago.

"I'm going to wash up," she whispered. John nodded and busied himself with the coffee maker.

Val showered, washing away the grime in her hair and gingerly washing around her bandaged side. She really hadn't meant to get hurt. What was she supposed to do? Let that poor woman get shot? Not that it mattered now. The woman she had taken a bullet for was now just a body in a box.

She understood how it changed everything. She only wished today hadn't happened at all. Val reflected on that as she emerged from the bathroom clad only in underwear and John's police academy t-shirt. All she wanted to do was go right to bed and ignore John's brooding. Instead he was sitting heavily on their bed in his shorts, waiting for her. They took each other in for a moment, neither party sure where to go.

"Come here," John commanded in a soft tone. Valerie took two steps before John reached out and pulled her in by the hips. His forehead found her stomach and his lips, her aching side. "I'm sorry I was angry." Just a whisper, Val ran a hand through his hair to show she understood. "But you can't go throwing your life around Val. It isn't just your anymore." The last part came out a bit muffled and Valerie's heart broke a little.

Here was John, laying his fears before her. She cradled his head and hummed. Finally, John looked up at her and told her to lie down. Once on her back, Kennex kneeled over her and pulled her underwear off her legs and let them splay around his hips. He didn't say a word, and he didn't touch her t-shirt.

He fitted their bodies together and gently made love to her. Rain beat outside against the window, and in the end they were both quivering against each other.

John and Valerie fell asleep twined together with John's head resting on Valerie's chest. Stahl thought about his words from earlier and realized how right he was. Her life was not her own anymore.

It hadn't been from the first moment she had seen this man.

His hand stroked up her side in a caress.

"Sleep," he mumbled.

She did.

**A/N: **I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. Please let me know what you think. It was longer than I expected. Self-editing, wibbly-wbbly, okay. Please read and review and send prompts.


	4. Dorian is Nosy

**A/N:** Now I know what it feels like to be the author and everyone is groveling at you to post more…its very satisfying. Sorry, weird mood. Anyway, here is some humorous fluff with Dorian, John, and Valerie. Please read, review, and enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters, story, or really…anything…at all…just my imagination. Please don't hurt me.

"So, John." John looked over the rim of his coffee mug at his less than synthetic partner. Dorian smiled knowingly.

"Yes, Dorian?" Oh, two could play at this constantly going, never-ending cycle of sass that electrified the air around the pair.

"Well, John. Since when did Midnight Blush become a part of your wardrobe?" Blue circuitry lit up his face.

John stared at Dorian, expression blank. However, he lifted his coffee mug to his lips again to try and indiscreetly smell his wrist. There it was, Midnight Blush.

And with it came the heady memories of a beautiful woman tangled in _his_ sheets, a dark halo of hair spread over his mattress and calling out _his_ name as he thoroughly mapped her body with _his_ fingertips, _his_ mouth…

John tried to keep a straight face through the daydream. He cleared his throat and tried to look nonplussed. "Well, Dorian, probably since I invited a beautiful woman to go to dinner with me last night." John sipped his coffee and sat down at his desk. "Her favorite restaurant, of course." He felt irrationally proud that he had remembered such a little detail.

Dorian shuffled closer to John. Lowering his voice so only John could hear, he whispered, "Am I to understand, John, that a certain beautiful woman also went home with you?" His eyes glittered mischievously.

"Is it really any of your business, Dorian the Nosy?"

"Why yes, John the Malcontent, it is. I am your partner and I'm supposed to-"

"'Keep an eye on you,' I know, I know Benedict Android," John waved him off and huffed, leaning back in his chair. Dorian eyed him and smiled.

"I can see that you are happy, John. I'm happy for you." John glanced into Dorian's electric blue eyes and grumbled good naturedly about damn androids sticking their noses into things that weren't any of their damn business.

"What was Dorian talking to you about earlier today?"

"Hm?" John mumbled. As soon as he and Val had gotten home he had bee-lined it to the shower and then bed, foregoing dinner and clothes altogether.

Except the shorts Valerie had thrown at his head when he had gotten out of the shower and she'd gone in ("Really, John? You're worse than the MX's. Put some clothes on.").

"John," Valerie called in a sing-song voice. She crawled under the sheets only to roll on top of Kennex who put on a dramatic show of being bullied out of sleep.

"Come on sleepy, talk to me," she chastised as she cupped his face whilst straddling his hips.

"Oh, something about blushing and midnight." John caught Val's wrists and placed a kiss on each then smiled up at his girlfriend. "Think I could make you blush at midnight, beautiful?" John gently grasped her hips and ground them together briefly. Valerie sighed happily and smiled serenely down at John. Her hair fell like a veil around them as she brushed a tender kiss against his lips.

Capturing Val's hands in his own and rolling them over, John pressed his lips to hers. Afterward, they fell asleep with John's head resting on Val's chest. That night John hadn't bothered with his leg. He could do it in the morning while they cooked and ate breakfast. This night held no interruptions for the exhausted detectives.

**A/N: **Well, longer than I expected. Please read and review and send me prompts. I'm practicing my conclusions so sorry if this left something to be desired. Thanks for reading! More to come my munchkins!


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